Riser type stadium chair



p 25, 1951 E. B. MORGAN ET AL 2,568,896

RISER TYPE STADIUM CHAIR Filed June 20, 1947 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 25, 1951 E. B. MORGAN ET AL 2,568,896

RISER TYPE STADIUM CHAIR- Filed June 20, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J 'ROgL-e VCla q ejwi wndm Mama/ Patented Sept. 25, 1951 RISER TYPE STADIUM CHAIR Erving B, Morgan and Royce W.. Clay, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignors to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich.,. a corporation of New Jersey Application June 20, 1947 SerialNo. 755,822

4 Claims. (015155-78) The present invention relates to chair structures. and more particularly to such structures which are especially adapted for installation in stadia, grandstands and like. outdoor theatres or arenas.

. Thev primary objects of the inventionare to provide improved structure for installing chairs on the vertical risers of a stadium or the like so that the stadium treads are unobstructed thus to facilitate ingress and egress of patrons between the rows of chairs and to facilitate sweeping of the treads; to provide such a structure which is adapted for installation on either high risers. or low risers; to provide in such a structure means whereby'the chairs may be installed in accurate horizontal alignment notwithstanding deviations of the risers from the true vertical; to provide such a chair structure which may be conveniently and relatively quickly installed thus to minimize thelabor and expense of installation; and to provide such a chairstructure which is economical to manufacture; sturdy in-con'struction and attractive' in appearance.

A preferred embodiment ofv the invention is illustrated in the'accompanying drawings; where.

Figure 1- is a perspective view of a chairstructure made according to the present invention and installed on a relatively high vertical riser of a stadium or the like;

Figure 1a is' a fragmentary perspective view of a lower leg portion of the chair structure installed on a relatively low vertical riser;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a lower leg portion of the chair-structure;

Figure 3 is aside elevational view" of the chair structure installed on a riser which deviates from the true vertical in an upwardly-rearwardly di- ,rection;

Figure 4 is a similar view of the chair structure installed on a riser which deviates from the true vertical in an upwardly-forwardly direction;

Figure 5 is a'sectional view of parts of the chair structure, taken on line '.i5 of Figure 3;

. Figure 6 is a sectional view'of parts of the-chair structure, taken on line 6-6 of Figure 4;

Figure '7 is an enlarged fragmentary central vertical sectional view of a lower leg portion of the chair structure installed on an upwardlyrearwardly sloping riser, the section being indicated at line 'l1 of Figure 2; and

Figure 8 is a similar sectional view of a lower leg portion of the chair structure installed on and upwardly-forwardly sloping riser.

Referring now in detail to these drawings wherein like parts of the chair structure are designated by the same numerals in the several views, the chair there shown generally comprises spaced chair standards ill of cast metal mounted on the vertical riser II (as shown in Figure l) of a concrete stadium I2 having treads l3, a chairback comprising rearwardly bowed slats l4 having their opposite ends secured as by bolts or rivets lite lugs IE on the standards In, and a seat comprising slats ll secured as by bolts or rivets l8 to arms [9 which are preferably pivotally connected to the standards Ill. The standards l0 may desirably be cast with means (not shown) whereby the adjacent elements of adjoining chairs in a row are mounted on opposite sides of a common standard. The risers shown in the difierent views vary as to height and inclination and are therefore designated by different numerals in the several views. The typical riser l l shown in Figure 1 is about 9 inches in height and is true vertical, or perpendicular. Each of, the several types of risers is provided with horizontallyspaced pairs of forwardly projecting expansion bolts 20 and the bolts of each pair are also horizontally spaced apart. Each chairstandard I!) has a vertically depending leg 2| at its rear, said leg being provided near its lower end with a horizontally elongated lug portion 22 extending laterally from the opposite sides of the leg 2| and provided with horizontally spaced bolt-receiving apertures 23 likewise on opposite sides of the leg 2 I. (See Figures 7 and-8.) 0n the rear surface of theleg 2| is an upper abutment 24 above the lug portion 22 of the le 2|: and a lower abutment 25 below said lug portion, which abutments extend rearwardly beyond the lug. portion 22 thus defining a recess 26 between the abutments in the region of said lug portion 22.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the chair standards in are mounted on the vertical riser l I by means of their apertured lug portions 22 which embrace the respective. pairs of bolts 20, and the abutments 24 and 25 are brought into abutting rela tion with the riser by means of. nuts 21 threaded on the'outer ends of the bolts 26. When the nuts 21 are securely tightened down, the chair standards [0 are anchored firmly to the riser ll thus forming rigid supports for the chair elements. As shown in Figure 1a, the chair structure may be installed 'on' a relatively-low vertical riser 28, said riser 28 being approximately 4 inches high as shown but should preferably be 5 inches or more in. height for the additional strength afforded by theconcrete above the bolts 20;

The invention: comprehends means for compensating: for deviations of the stadium risers from the true vertical so that the chairs may in all cases be installed at the proper angle for comfort and so that all chairs in a row may be accurately horizontally aligned for uniformity in appearance. These means are illustrated in Figures 3-8 inclusive and consist of shims each comprising one or more thin sheet metal shim plates 29 of identical formation. Each shim plate 3 29 has an effective body portion 30 (see Figures and 6) and a pair of fingers 3! extending oppositely laterally from said body portion 30 near one end thereof. These shims are applied as required after the standards II! have been mounted on the bolts and the nuts 21 have been turnedonto the bolts, but before the nuts 21 are turned down tight. It will be seen that because of'the peculiar formation of the shims, they may be inserted between the riser and the depending chair' leg 2| with the fingers 3| resting on the spaced bolts 20 of a pair thereof, and with theeifective body portion of each shim either extending upwardly above the bolts as shown in Figures 3, 5 and? or depending from and between the bolts as shown in Figures 4, 6 and 8, this selection being made contingent upon the direction of deviation of the riser from a true vertical formation.

As illustrated in Figures 3 and 7 the riser 32 slopes upwardly-rearwardly and the shim is therefore positioned with its effective body portion extending upwardly. Subsequent tightening of thenuts 21 therefore brings the lower abut ment 25 into abutting relation with the riser 32 and the upper abutment 24 into abutting relation with the shim 29 adjacent the riser. Con versely, when the deviation of the riser is in an upwardly-forwardly direction as shown in Figures 4 and 8 the shim is positioned with its efiective body portion extending downwardly, and subsequent tightening of the nuts 27 brings the upper abutment 24 into abutting relation with the riser 33 and the lower'abutment 25 into abutting relation with the shim 29 adjacent thisriser 33. In either case, the end portion of the shim nearest the bolts is rendered ineffective as a shim by the recess 26 into which said end extends. The shim may consist of as many shim plates as are required to compensate for the angular deviation of the riser, one such shim plate being sufiicient as shown in Figure 7, while two are required as shown in Figure 8.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a quick and convenient means for installing chairs on vertical risers in horizontally aligned rows, and while but one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described it will be understood that alterations and modifications may be devised without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A chair adapted for installation on a riser having horizontally spaced pairs of forwardly projecting bolts, the bolts of each pair being also horizontally spaced, said chair being provided with .a pair of depending legs each having a horizontally elongated lug portion provided with horizontally spaced bolt-receiving apertures and each leg having abutments above and below said lug portion which extend rearwardly beyond said lug portion, the apertured lug portions of said chair legs being adapted to embrace adjacent pairs of said bolts and being adapted for mounting with said abutments abutting the riser by means of nuts threaded on the outer ends of said bolts.

2. A chair adapted for installation on a riser having a forwardly projecting bolt,.said chair being provided with a depending leg having a lug portion provided with a bolt-receiving aperture and having abutments above and below said lug portion which extend rearwardly beyond said lug portion; a shim comprising an effective body portion together with means for associating the shim with one of said abutments abutting the riser and with the other of said abutments abutting the effective body portion of the shim by means of a nut threaded on the outer end of said bolt.

3. A chair adapted for installation on a riser having a pair of horizontally spaced, forwardly projecting bolts, said chair being provided with a depending leg having a horizontally elongated lug portion provided with horizontally spaced bolt-receiving apertures and having abutments above and below said lug portion which extend rearwardly beyond said lug portion; a shim having an effective body portion and fingers extending oppositely laterally from the body portion near one end thereof, said fingers being adapted to engage said bolts respectively to sup port the shim between the leg and the riser so that the effective body portion of the shim either extends upwardly above the bolts or depends therefrom and therebetween, the apertured lug portion of said chair leg being adapted to em: brace said bolts and being adapted for mounting thereon with one of said abutments abutting the riser and with the other of said abutments abutting the eifective body portion of the shim by means of nuts threaded on the outer ends of said bolts.

4. A chair adapted for installation on a riser having horizontally spaced pairs of forwardly projecting bolts, the bolts of each pair being also horizontally spaced, said chair being provided with a pair of depending legs each having a horizontally elongated lug portion provided with horizontally spaced bolt-receiving apertures, and each leg having abutments above and below said lug portion which extend rearwardly beyond said lug' portion; shims adapted for disposition between the legs and the riser, each shim having an effective body portion and fingers extending oppositely laterally from the body portion near one end'thereof, the fingers of the shims adapted to engage respectively the bolts of adjacent spaced pairs thereof to support the shims between the legs and the riser so that the effective body portions of the shims extend either upwardly above the bolts or downwardly below the bolts, the apertured lug portions of said legs be ing adapted to embrace said adjacent pairs of bolts respectively and being adapted for mounting thereon with their lower or their upper abutments abutting the riser and their other abutments abutting the effective'body portions of the shims respectively by means of nuts threaded on the outer ends of said bolts.

ERVING B. MORGAN;

ROYCE W. CLAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENT S- Yost Apr. 5, 1938 

